


Genesis

by SoloShikigami



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gender-Neutral Frisk, My First Work in This Fandom, Nightmares, Sans Makes Puns, Underground
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 01:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6173881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoloShikigami/pseuds/SoloShikigami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Worlds will collide, personalities will clash, everyone had to come from somewhere but not everyone knows from where.<br/>There is more to them than they ever realized, but can they look past pain, abandonment, expectations, and hope to keep the worlds alive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Can Only Have the Answer When You Ask the Right Question

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in this fandom, so, be gentle?

It was a familiar scenario in the Skeleton household; cries and groans as nightmares ravaged into sleep. What wasn't familiar was Sans being the one bending over his younger brother. 

"Papyrus," Sans murmured sleepily, one hand half-heartedly shaking his brother's shoulder. "Hey, come on bro, knock it off." 

Papyrus suddenly let out a loud shout. That alone made Sans widen his eyes, but he only worried more when he was suddenly bathed in pale blue light as Papyrus's blue bone attack began swirling around them. 

"Ah, heh, hey, I heard of having the blues but this is a little ridiculous. No bones about it," Sans quipped. 

Papyrus shouted again. "Stay away!" 

Sans leaped back as a set of white bones swiped just past him. One caught the edge of his shirt and he was sent flying into a wall. 

"Guess one could say I just got b-owned," Sans said, climbing back to his feet. He stayed still as the blue attack continued to swirl around the room while he tried to think of a way to wake his brother. 

Sans watched the bones carefully, moving forward when a window presented itself, staying still when they got too close, and finally with a surge of effort he leaped onto Papyrus. His brother swung a fist at him, but he easily caught it and pressed it against Papyrus' chest. 

"Wake up!" Sans shouted at him, blocking his other hand from landing a blow. "You're going to hurt yourself and me! Snap out of it, Papyrus!" 

With a gasp and a shriek, Papyrus' eyes opened. The bones fell, clattering on the wooden floor before fading away. Papyrus' wide eyes searched the room before resting on the skeleton sitting just below his ribs. 

"S-sans," he stammered. "W-what's going on?" 

Sans breathed a sigh of relief before sliding off of him onto the mattress. Papyrus sat up slowly. 

"You tell me," Sans said, looking at him with concern. "It's not like you to have nightmares, much less any that include attacking me in your sleep." 

"I did?! Are you okay?!" Papyrus immediately grabbed onto Sans and looked him over, eyes searching through the darkness for injuries. 

"I'm fine, bro," Sans assured him. "But what got you so rattled?" 

Papyrus sighed, but it wasn't from the pun. This had to be serious. Papyrus lay back on his pillows and Sans shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Sans, where did we come from?" Papyrus asked the question slowly, staring at the ceiling. 

Sans blinked at the floor. "The Underground? You know; beneath the mountain, banished by the humans? Until Frisk helped free us of course." 

Papyrus shook his head. "No, no, like, did we have parents? Were we creations? Where did we _come_ from?" 

"I, well, I don't know." 

Papyrus propped himself up on his elbows. "Come on, don't you remember anything? Or is this something else you're going to get all mysterious about?" 

"No mystery here, Pap, I really don't know. I barely remember being, well, introduced to you? You were always just there, and I always had to find a way to take care of you." 

"I would think with all your mucking about in time and space, you would have spent a little less time pranking and used your time for better activities." 

"How do you know I wasn't? Also, pranking is not a waste of time." 

Papyrus gave his brother a weary look and sighed as he dropped back onto his pillow. The room was dominated by silence for a few moments. 

"What brought this up all of a sudden?" Sans asked after a while. 

"I can't recall everything, but something in my dream made it seem important," Papyrus admitted. "Like it was something really important to know." 

Sans moved to lie down, shoving his feet under Papyrus' pillow and bunching the blanket under his head. 

"Dreams are weird, and it's too early in the morning to figure them out. Why don't you sleep on it?" 

"And speaking of things it's too early for," Papyrus muttered, shaking his head. 

Both brothers fell silent, but neither fell back asleep. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

**About two weeks later…**

"Come on, Papyrus! Stop stalling and show me what you got!" 

Papyrus grunted as he stood, using the spear that he barely dodged for leverage. Undyne grinned at him, spinning the spear she still held with a grin; she was clearly showing off. Papyrus launched himself forward and started attacking her with as much ferocity as he could muster. He was tired, though, and sluggish, and even at the top of his game, Undyne always made short work of him. She got him off balance, easily shoving him to the ground and she leaped on top of him. Their spears clashed when she went to strike and he blocked, she tried to push down to pin Papyrus, but he valiantly kept enough of a distance between them. 

"You're distracted today," Undyne said. 

"The Great Papyrus is never distracted!" Papyrus proclaimed. 

Undyne laughed. "You're so full of it, you little punk." 

Papyrus knew that he couldn't win with strength against her, and finally realized he had to stop trying to best her at her own game. He needed to turn it into his. He glanced down and moved one foot to the inside of Undyne's ankle carefully and slowly poked the left side of his hip outwards. He pushed against her again, testing where most of her strength was and angled his spear so she would slide in that direction. 

Quickly, Papyrus pulled his left leg out from under Undyne and planted his foot firmly on the ground. He hitched his hips up and rolled to his right. Not only was Undyne too surprised at the change of tactic, but with her right foot pinned, she had no choice but to go with it. 

Papyrus was just as surprised when he found he and Undyne had switched positions, but he lacked follow-through. Undyne took advantage of his state of shock, pulling him forward and launching him over her head. 

Alphys and Frisk winced as Papyrus landed. They sat on the fence that surrounded the small house that Undyne and Alphys shared with Toriel and Frisk. Papyrus and Undyne had been using the side yard for training. 

“You should really take it easy on him,” Alphys said as Undyne stood and brushed herself off. 

“Did you see what he did to me? He asked for it!” Undyne insisted. 

Frisk looked past Undyne at Papyrus, realizing that Undyne was more right than she probably realized; Papyrus had taken a sudden interest in what looked like actual combat fighting. They knew Undyne never really trained Papyrus before because she was certain he would get himself hurt, or worse. Frisk wasn’t sure what changed her mind and why Papyrus was so insistent, however, it lead them to where they were today. 

Undyne and Alphys continued their back and forth over what had happened, Frisk hopped off the fence and went to Papyrus’ side. The skeleton had sat up briefly to indicate that he was uninjured, but he lay back down and didn’t show any signs of movement until Frisk approached. 

“Hello, human,” Papyrus said, smiling up at the child. 

Frisk tilted their head, asking if Papyrus was okay. 

“Nyeh heh heh! Of course I am!” he grinned up at Frisk. “The Great Papyrus is always okay! Did you see what I did to Undyne?” 

Frisk grinned and told Papyrus that it looked cool, but wondered how he pulled it off. 

“I thought of it like a puzzle, you know I am a master of puzzles!” 

They shared a grin, but then Papyrus sighed and looked to the sky, folding his hands under his head. Frisk was concerned and moved to lie next to him, asking what was wrong. They reminded Papyrus that he was never interested in combat before. 

Papyrus toyed with the thought in his head for a moment, wondering how much he should tell Frisk. He had questions, he was sure Frisk had answers, so why did he hesitate? 

“Human, I am curious if you remember how you got to the Underground?” 

Frisk nodded. 

Papyrus sat up and looked down at Frisk. “Maybe one day could you show me?” 

Frisk furrowed their brows and sat up to ask Papyrus why. 

Papyrus smiled and shrugged. “Curiosity. I noticed that the barrier, though it’s broken, it still seems to be a one way door. Hopefully that means we can’t be forced back there.” 

Frisk nodded, reminding Papyrus that they’re not an expert on such things, but if it would make him feel better, he could take him up the mountain, but didn’t think attempting to go back to the Underground was a good idea. 

“Nyeh heh heh! Frisk, you’re funny. Why would I ever want to go back?” 

Frisk asked about the combat training. 

“Undyne always promised me, and since now I am a master chef, my kitchen training should be finished! Also, I no longer have to fight humans, and Undyne seems to have fun so…” 

Papyrus stood and started walking back to the house. Frisk glanced in the distance where the mountain loomed, then stood to join their friends. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

**Another week later…**

Sans stood up so fast he knocked over his bottle of ketchup. 

“Sans!” Toriel scolded, reaching for a napkin in case the ketchup oozed out before she reached the bottle. 

“Where did they go?” Sans asked. 

“Frisk said they were taking a hike to the mountain,” Toriel said calmly, righting the bottle while wiping the one glob that did fall out. 

“Why would you let them do that?!?” Sans demanded. 

Toriel looked up with a warning look. “Sans, you will calm yourself and sit down.” 

Sans glared back, but then took a breath and sat down. If Toriel wasn’t worried, there was probably a good explanation. 

“I’m sorry, Tori,” Sans murmured, slowly sitting down again. “But I think it’s a horrible idea to let those two go off on their own like that.” 

“I understand, Sans, you do tend to act a little odd when it comes to anything that has had to do with the Underground since we came to the surface,” she gave him a worried but sympathetic smile. “Try to remember that while your brother may be a little, well, flighty, he isn’t completely incompetent. Neither is Frisk. They should be back shortly.” 

Sans nodded and upended the ketchup bottle. 

Toriel worried at her lower lip, watching Sans for a moment. “Did Papyrus not tell you that was what he was doing today?” 

“Nope,” Sans set the bottle down. “He didn’t say a word. He usually doesn’t. I know he runs out on errands, to come here to see you all, and if he’s not at home testing another spaghetti recipe or cleaning, he’s here. Never had a reason to think he was anywhere else.” 

Toriel nodded. “Again, Sans, you should put a little more trust in your brother,” she reached across the table and put a soft hand over Sans’ boney one. “You two made it this far, after all.” 

Sans looked up into Toriel’s face, remembering what made her queen, and what made her a wonderful mother and teacher. He smiled and put his other hand over hers. 

“I’m trying, Tori, I really am,” Sans murmured. 

“YOUR MAJESTY! FRISK AND I HAVE RETURNED!” Papyrus shouted as he slammed the door open. “And my brother is here! Good to see you out of the house, Sans!” 

Frisk smiled and told Sans that he was happy to see him. Then Frisk ran to Toriel, showing her an armful of flowers they gathered on the mountain. While they both went to find a vase, Sans turned to Papyrus. 

“Why in the world would you go near that mountain?!” Sans asked in a hiss, wanting to yell but knowing he couldn’t without upsetting everyone else in the house. 

“I wanted to take a hike with Frisk, and you never want to do anything physical,” Papyrus crossed his arms defensively, but his eyes looked apologetic. “I didn’t realize I needed your permission to go on a walk.” 

Sans sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “No, Papyrus, you don’t need my permission, just, I, I’m worried,” he moved to stand in front of him, his hands dug into his jacket pockets. He looked up at the taller skeleton. “You’re still having those nightmares, I don’t always come in but I do always hear you. I’ve been having a few nightmares myself, and just, well, I’m worried.” 

Papyrus reached down and picked his brother up for a hug. “Please don’t worry.” 

Sans hugged him back. “Can’t help it, it’s in my bones.” 

Papyrus sighed. “Really?” 

“Verte-bruhs gotta look out for one another, you know?” 

Papyrus held Sans at arms length. “You always know how to make the most touching situations terrible.” 

“What can I say; can’t keep all these pun-derful thoughts to myself!” 

Papryus narrowed his eyes and let go. 

“Ow.” 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

**The Next Night…**

Papyrus woke up with a wheezing gasp. Another nightmare, but this time it had come with a message. 

He reached down under his bed for a notebook that he began keeping. He had brought up dreams and meanings to Alphys and she had suggested keeping a dream journal. Papyrus normally didn’t think things like this were necessary, but something deep inside him told him that his current run of strange dreams and nightmares was worth keeping track of. 

After making his entry, he stared at it for a while, flipping back a few pages to try to connect the new nightmare with the old. He made sketches of a few things that he remembered – some didn’t make sense as he wrote or drew when he was only partially awake. For some reason, though, one of his drawings clicked and made sense. 

Papyrus’ eyes widened as understanding started to flood his mind. He slammed the book shut, thought again, and went to the last page of the book and began to scribble. He then went to his closet and pulled out his “battle body” – he hadn’t worn it since they came to the surface, but it still fit, and he wrapped his trademark scarf into its proper place. 

Papyrus made his way down the stairs quietly, he went to the kitchen and ripped out the last page in his notebook and set it on the counter near the coffee maker. He thought for a moment and decided to place his notebook under the note in case Sans dropped water on the counter. He didn’t need the notebook; he knew exactly where he was going. He carefully opened the front door and carefully shut it and carefully ran off into the night. 

**\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**

_Dear Sans,_

_I had another nightmare, but I think I know why I am having them and I think I know how to stop them. I’ll be back soon, it shouldn’t take long._

_Love, PAPYRUS_

**\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

**A Couple of Hours Later…**

Sans found himself running towards the mountain with the sun rising just behind him. 

“Papyrus! What the hell are you thinking?!?”


	2. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus goes up the mountain, Sans runs after him, and it all goes downhill from there.

Papyrus had a great memory. He had no issues retracing the steps he and Frisk had made up the mountain. The sun had risen as he finally made it to the vast, gaping hole that Frisk said he had fallen into. Papyrus knew that other had fallen in before Frisk. They had taken a moment before for silence out of respect for them, and Papyrus did the same again. 

“I’m so happy that we did not need to take anymore human souls,” Papyrus murmured. “We were so foolish, weren’t we?” 

He walked around the hole, glancing down it and wondering if he should just jump, or if there was a safe way down, or if he should just go home and get Sans, or if he should just go home. 

“No, I have to go down there,” Papyrus murmured. “Oh, I wish Sans would have just listened to me, he probably could just teleport us down there, it would all take a few moments.” 

“Papyrus!!!” 

The tall skeleton blinked. “Sans? Wowie. Weird.” 

“PAPYRUS!!!” 

“Sans! Over here!” 

Sans soon stood on the opposite side of the hole, breathing hard and sweating. 

“Puh-Pap-Papyrus,” he huffed. 

“Are you all right?” Papyrus asked. 

Sans held up a hand. Papyrus was quiet while he caught his breath, and when he was ready, he straightened. 

“Papyrus, what are you doing?” 

“Look, I know we talked about it at length, but I can’t help but feel that this is the right thing to do.” 

“And I told you that it was a bad idea.” 

“I know! Which was why I came up here without telling you!” 

Sans raised what would have been his eyebrow and pulled the notebook Papyrus had left. He opened to the page with a drawing of the mountain and a strange machine. Sans recognized the machine immediately. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize this?” Sans asked softly. “Papyrus, I don’t know what answers you think are back there, but trust me; it’s a bad idea.” 

“Why?” 

“Why do you want to know so bad? What is it that you need an answer to that will change anything?!” Sans threw the book on the ground in frustration. 

“What _don’t_ you want me to know? You keep _everything_ from me! You never explain how you just knew things, you never tell me how you got the ability to teleport, you never let me into the basement and you just never explain!” 

Sans flinched. He knew Papyrus was right, he hadn’t explained a lot to Papyrus and he had his reasons, but since everything was done and over with, he thought it didn’t matter. Perhaps that wasn’t the same for Papyrus. 

“Listen, bro, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry that you feel that I kept things from you, and let’s face it, I did. But please understand that I had my reasons and it was all to keep you safe, keep you from worrying, and just trying to keep life simple,” he sighed deeply. Sans glanced up to find Papyrus wasn’t looking at him angrily anymore and that made him feel a little relieved. “Come on, let’s get off this mountain. Let’s go home, you can make me some spaghetti and I’ll answer what I can.” 

Papyrus’ face softened (as much as a skeleton’s face could soften), and he smiled at his brother. 

“All right, you’re probably right anyway,” Papyrus said, looking down the hole again. 

“Are you telling me you’re going to spa-get-about it?” 

“Oh, for the love of-” 

“Don’t get saucy with me, bro, you know that was awesome.” 

Papyrus growled. “I swear to everything that you hold dear, Sans.” 

“Can’t get one past-a you, bro.” 

Papyrus cried out in frustration, but was cut short when the ground beneath his feet moved. He was silent. Sans was, too. 

“What was th-” Papyrus began to ask, but was cut off again by the ground shaking. 

Sans’ eyes widened as he looked up at his brother. “Papyrus?” 

The ground shook even harder. Sans lost his balance and fell forward. 

“SANS! NO!” Papyrus screamed. 

Without a second thought, Papyrus dove down after his brother. It didn’t take long for him to grip Sans’ ankle and he briefly wondered how long until they hit the bottom. 

“Hold on, Papyrus! Just hold on!” Sans shouted. 

Papyrus reached up and wrapped an arm around Sans’ waist and squeezed his eyes shut. An odd feeling swept over him, the surface of his bones felt numb, and it felt like his brain was spinning in his head. 

“Just… hold… on…” 

“Sans? Wha-?” 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

Papyrus groaned painfully. Everything hurt and for a moment he didn’t understand why. When his memory came back, he gasped and sat up. 

“Sans! I- ow!” he rubbed his hip. “Was that him teleporting? Why does everything hurt? Hm, maybe this was why he always seemed so lazy; maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on him.” 

Papyrus took a deep breath and stood on shaky legs. He looked around and dropped onto his knees; the trees and snow were too familiar. He looked up and realized snow was falling from the usual grey sky. 

Was he really back in Snowdin? 

He knew he wouldn’t gain any answers by sitting in the snow, so he got back up onto his feet and looked around. There was no sign of Sans. 

Papyrus glanced around, picked a direction, and started walking. 

“I guess Sans was right, maybe this was a terrible idea. I hope he’s okay,” Papyrus mumbled. 

He walked into the woods for a little bit, looking around for any signs. 

“Sans! Sans! Can you hear me?!?” Papyrus called out. 

Only the wind answered him. He walked a few more yards and called again. 

But no one answered. 

Papyrus shivered a little, not so much because of the cold but because of the horrible sinking feeling that became worse with every moment he didn’t hear his brother. 

“Sans! Please tell me you can hear me!” Papyrus shouted. 

“Oh, I can hear you, but you’ll probably regret that I did.” 

The voice was familiar, but something seemed… off. 

Papyrus was too afraid to turn around. 

The voice behind him chuckled darkly. “Come on buddy, is that any way to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand… Before I send you straight to hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What have I done?  
> You can ask me on Tumblr if you want a faster answer ^_-  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/soloshikigami


	3. Sans a Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is in a familiar and yet unfamiliar place. Will he find his brother or is he doomed to continue fighting these odd, familiar-looking monsters?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is ridiculously short, but it's because I didn't have a good place to stop what happens next, so... yeah.

Sans groaned as he came to, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Haven’t passed out like that in a while,” he muttered. “Wha-? Is that snow?” 

He looked up and around, and he immediately started shaking. 

It wasn’t because he was cold. 

“No, no, no-no-no-no-no,” he gasped. “They, they didn’t, did they?” 

It took a moment for his memory to come back; It wasn’t that Frisk had reset, or that he had dreamed everything, it was because he teleported himself and Papyrus after they fell. They must be back where they used to patrol, and Sans remembered Frisk telling him that they were the next monsters they met after Toriel. He wondered why they weren’t in the ruins, or why he didn’t think to land them at the house. 

“Well, better find Papyrus,” Sans muttered. He stood, brushing the snow off before looking around again, picking a direction, and started walking. 

As Sans wandered through the woods, he noticed that while it all looked familiar, he wasn’t sure where he was. He didn’t know what direction he was walking in, where the village was, where the door to the ruins were. As the minutes passed and the snow continued to fall around him, he grew more and more uneasy. 

_**Klck klch chk klik!**_

Sans gasped and stopped in his tracks. “Papyrus?” he ventured. 

_**Klck klch chk klik klch klck!**_

It sounded like rattling bones. Sans glanced around and could have sworn he saw a swatch of red fabric among the trees. 

“This isn’t funny, Paps,” Sans said a little louder. “Come on out!” 

_**Chk klck klch clk klik klch klck!**_

Another movement caught his eye, possibly another shock of red between the blackened trees. 

“Papyrus! I swear once I get my hands on you-!” Sans threatened. 

“Get dunked on!” 

“What the f-” 

Sans barely dodged a staff’s blow and he rolled out of the way, his left eye switching to blue as he activated his magic. 

“You’re not going to touch my brother!” 

Sans moved again as multiple swings from the staff continued to attempt to strike him. He glanced up and saw grey and blue, he found an opportunity to kick out the legs of his attacker and took it. He stood over… 

The little skeleton certainly seemed to look like him, but whatever he was wearing looked like it was made for a costume party or something. It was oddly familiar, somehow, and yet seemed absolutely ridiculous. Bright, innocent-looking blue eyes stared up at him. 

Sans backed away, the other skeleton stayed where he was, looking just as shocked as he felt. 

There was a blur of motion as something red and black swept past Sans and the little skeleton on the ground shrieked in fear. 

Before Sans could react, he felt a tendril of magic wrap around his throat and lift him in the air. 

“You stay out of this,” the tall figure dressed in red and black hissed at him before throwing him far away from them. 

Sans landed among a thick gathering of trees. He heard the sounds of fighting in the distance and wondered what he should do as he got to his feet. 

_**Klck klch chk klik klch klck!**_

“There it is again,” he murmured. 

_**Chk klck klch clk klik klch klck!**_

Sans walked backwards, his eyes darting everywhere to find the source of the rattling sound. His left eye was still blue, his hand curled around a tendril of blue magic, ready to summon whatever was necessary. 

Suddenly his backside was pressed against another. Whoever was behind him was about the same size as him and wielded the same magic; he could feel a familiar energy flowing from them. The other seemed to be drawing the same conclusions about Sans, and both of them relaxed against one another a little for the moment. 

“I’m guessing you have blue magic?” Sans asked quietly. 

“Yep.” 

“So, on the count of three, we turn around and try to kill each other like civilized monsters?” 

“I’d prefer to get some answers out of you first.” 

Sans chuckled. “Ah, well, we’re on the same page on that then, too.” 

“Hmph. Stop trying to read me, this isn’t a library.” 

“Ha. Wouldn’t I have to check you out first?” 

“Not that this isn’t a pun-derful time, but I have someone to find.” 

“Me too, so let’s do this.” 

“On three?” 

“On three.” 

“One.” 

“Two.” 

Two voices shouted “three!” and the two separated, turned, and faced each other. 

Neither was prepared for what they saw.


	4. Fight, Regroup, Heal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus knew there was a reason he would need training from Undyne... Real training.  
> A lot more is explained as these strange creatures are introduced.  
> Also, healing is not Sans' strong point. But of course, anything for his little brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a longer chapter. I was accused of being vague, but I had a reason for it.  
> Enjoy!

Papyrus was breathing harder than he ever had in his whole life. He leaned against a long bone that he had been using as a weapon to keep the other creature at bay. 

‘Creature’ was the only word that Papyrus could think of to describe what stood before him; he sounded like his brother, looked a little like him he supposed, but he was decked in black and red and his teeth were jagged and sharp. He didn’t hold back, he was strong and relentless and he had Papyrus more or less on the run. 

But Papyrus knew he couldn’t give up. 

“So, are you having fun? Because I sure am,” the creature grinned sadistically at him. “Dirty doppelganger.” 

“Excuse me? It is you who is the doppelganger!” Papyrus exclaimed, straightening and pointing the bone menacingly at his opponent. 

The creature shrugged. “It’s not going to matter because I’m going to turn you into dust!” 

He summoned a blaster. Papyrus smirked to himself; he had trained a little with Sans at one point and knew full well the capabilities of the blasters and how to dodge them. 

As he predicted, he dodged every blast, moving closer and closer until he was able to tackle his attacker. 

“Nyeh heh heh! The Great Papyrus is always victorious!” he proclaimed. 

Suddenly, Papyrus found himself upside down, the creature he was fighting was still on his back a couple of feet below him. Before he could question what was happening, he was staring into a long, nasty-looking face with glowing red eyes and sharp teeth, just like the other one. 

“If you hurt my brother, I will end you,” the face growled. 

Papyrus’ eyes glanced down and he saw a small, still figure under one of the creature’s arms. All he saw was blue, and then all Papyrus saw was red. 

“You will unhand my brother,” Papyrus said softly but threateningly. “Do what you will with me, but you let him go.” 

The red eyes looked amused. “You are hardly in any position to make any demands,” he hissed. 

Papyrus remembered that he was still holding his own weapon. With a cry he swung it and hit the tall skeleton on the elbow holding his prisoner. The tall skeleton cried out in pain and the little skeleton dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back. Papyrus looked down to see an unfamiliar face. 

“Hmm… Well, that’s not my brother, but I am certain that he didn’t deserve to be hurt!” Papyrus swung the bone again at the other skeleton but he stepped back. 

“Oh, I am going to absolutely murder you,” he snarled. 

“YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!” 

Both skeletons looked around for the source of the voice and before they could find it, an energy wave swept them both and the two smaller skeletons back. Papyrus fell hard, feeling something snap in the back of his neck that made his head spin immediately. He looked up to find another tall skeleton glaring down at them all. 

This one didn’t look all that different from Papyrus; most of the clothing was the same, though this one wore a frilly yellow waistband and the scarf wrapped around the head as well as flapped behind in the breeze. 

“NOW THEN,” they declared loudly. “WE ARE GOING TO DISCUSS THIS LIKE PROPER MONSTERS!” 

The two skeletons dressed in red and black stood slowly, though a little shakily. They glanced at each other and then back at the newcomer. 

“Sure, we can have a discussion,” the taller one said silkily. 

The shorter one grinned menacingly as he summoned two blasters. “Sure, it’ll be a blast! Ow.” 

The tall skeleton smacked the short one upside the head for his pun. 

Papyrus leaned against his bone to get to his feet and he quickly stumbled over to the newcomer and summoned a shield against the blast. Papyrus didn’t make it big enough and took part of the blaster full on his left leg. The other skeleton grabbed his upper arm to keep him steady. 

“Are you all right?” 

“The Great Papyrus is always all right!” Papyrus forced with a grin. He ignored the disbelieving look from the other and turned his attention to their attackers. 

“Hey, look, Paps,” the shorter skeleton said. “As much as I’d love to have fun tearing these posers to shreds, I get the funny feeling that we probably shouldn’t.” 

The taller one nodded slowly. “I think you may be right, brother.” 

“Good, glad you agree,” the other nodded. “Because I’m not really feeling all too well…” 

The shorter skeleton fell to his knees with a grunt; he had expended too much energy. 

Looking around the small clearing and taking in the other skeletons, the new one sighed. 

“This is hardly the way to start a new friendship,” she muttered. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

Sans took a look at the skeleton before him – this was now the third one he had seen in these woods which would have been odd enough on it’s own, but that detail was shoved aside for more important ones. 

Details like the blue jacket that was worn by the other skeleton was very much like his own, though cut just a tad closer to the waist and thick white stripes ran down the arms and sides. Their shorts didn’t have the white on the side and their pink slip-on shoes covered the whole foot. At a quick glance, one would probably not know that they were two different skeletons, except that the other one had a black lace headband on. 

They both raised their hands, they both felt an odd tug at their souls, they both resisted while they both kept trying to throw the other aside. They both summoned blasters, hesitating for a moment in surprise at seeing the other was still copying them before they were fired and they both dodged and completely avoided being hit. 

They regained their footing and tried firing their blasters again, both at opposing angles but still with the same results. They brought out bone attacks, blaster attacks, and tried to control the others soul to at least throw the other off balance, but it was all in vain. They worked in an odd tandem, perfect attacks met with perfect counters and retaliations. 

Neither knew how long it took before they were out of breath. They both ceased. They both have each other matching smirks. 

"Seems like we're evenly matched," Sans said, his voice surprisingly steady. 

"Seems that way," the other replied, and it was then that Sans noticed that their voice was a little higher than his. "There doesn't seem to be many differences between us, but there is something that I know that sets me apart from you." 

"Oh yeah? What's that?" 

The other skeleton smirked, disappeared, and Sans suddenly was clawing at a bone that was being held over his neck, forcing him to press back against the other skeletons body. 

"I am willing to get rid of anyone, ANYONE, who keeps me from my sister," the voice growled into his ear. 

The bone pressed harder, somehow keeping Sans from being able to speak or breathe. He flailed, unable to think of a way out of his predicament. 

"What's wrong, bone boy? Cat got your tongue?" 

"Hey, now, is that really necessary?" 

A new voice made both of them freeze. Sans gasped as the pressure on his neck was released and the other skeleton shrieked as the back of her jacket was grabbed and she was lifted high into the air. Sans rushed forward, but the lack of oxygen made him unsteady and he fell face-first into the snow. He quickly rolled over and found himself shocked yet again at the sight before him. 

Papyrus was holding his female double, who thrashed angrily in his grip for a moment before she was turned so their eyes could meet. Sans tilted his head, confused; he certainly looked like Papyrus, that is, if Papyrus suddenly changed into beige pants and an orange hooded sweatshirt. His face seemed a little different, too, more… relaxed? 

"What have you done with my sister?!" the female skeleton demanded, suddenly coming back to herself and swinging her weapon at her captor. 

He easily grabbed the bone and twisted it slightly out of her grip; it instantly vanished. "Tsk, tsk, is that any way to greet a new pal? Relax, little one, I don't know about anyone's sister and this is definitely not the way to go about finding out." 

Sans shook his head hard, but it only made the growing headache that was forming worse. He looked up, dazed and dizzy. 

"What the hell is going on here?" he murmured, fighting the darkness that clouded the edges of his vision. 

Papyrus looked down at him. "You okay there, buddy?" 

He didn't sound much like Papyrus, unless Papyrus swallowed a massive chill pill. 

"No, I'm not okay," Sans admitted. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that this Papyrus look-alike could be trusted. "I need to find Papyrus, he-" 

"Wait, you're looking for Papyrus too? Well-" she stopped speaking suddenly and glared at the tall skeleton. "Would you put me down already?" 

He narrowed his eyes quizzically. "And why are you two looking for Papyrus?" 

"He's my brother." 

"She's my sister." 

"... And I am neither, though my name is Papyrus." 

The three stared at one another. 

"Okay, seriously, can you put me down already?" 

"Only if you promise not to hit me." 

She narrowed her eyes. "I hate making promises. Don't give me a reason and I won't hit you." 

The tall skeleton nodded. "That's fair." 

He gently righted the smaller skeleton and set her down as carefully as he would a child. She brushed her clothes with a slight indignant air before shoving her hands into her pockets. 

"Okay, pal, we already know that you don't belong to either of us," Sans said. 

"That is correct. Neither of you is my brother either, and I'm looking for him." 

Sans looked to the female skeleton. "And seriously, what's your deal?" 

"Probably about the same as you two, I'm guessing," she replied. "Something really weird is going on here. Weirder than the usual 'is this a reset' sort of deal," she glanced between the two, gauging their reactions. "I'm going to assume that you two know what I'm talking about." 

"Well, you know what they say about assuming, right?" Sans asked with a grin. 

"Seriously not the time for that," the tall skeleton sighed. 

The female skeleton smirked. "What's wrong, buddy? Can't take a pair of humerous bone bags?" 

"We're just having pun." 

"A skele-ton of pun." 

The orange hood came up as the skeleton grunted in frustration. 

"You two are as bad as Sans," he grumbled. "Man, I need a nap." 

"I guess that's good, considering I am Sans. I think I'm pretty Sans-sational though," Sans grinned. 

"But my name is Sans, too," the female skeleton said slowly. She looked up at the tall one, "and your name is Papyrus, but you're not the one we're looking for." 

Papyrus nodded. "I have the feeling this is going to be a long day." 

A breeze shook the trees around them. While the two male skeletons didn't think anything of it, the female widened her eyes. 

"Papyrus," she whispered. 

Without another word or sound she took off running. 

"Should we follow her?" Sans wondered out loud. 

"As much as I hate running, yes," Papyrus said. 

“Word, bruh,” Sans said, holding up a fist. 

Papyrus snorted a laugh before knocking his knuckles against Sans’ and the two followed the footprints in the snow. 

_**Klck klch chk klik klch klck!**_

“What _is_ that?” Sans said out loud as they ran. 

“It sounds like bones rattling,” Papyrus said. 

“Well, duh, but who keeps making it?” 

“I think it’s the girl-you.” 

“She is not a girl-me!” 

“Dude, same outfit? Same attacks? I saw some of your fight before I stepped in. The only thing that separates you from her is the headband.” 

Sans grumbled to himself; he knew this Papyrus was right but he didn’t have to admit it. 

_**Klck klch chk klik klch klck!**_

_**Chk klck klch clk klik klch klck!**_

“That sounded different,” Sans murmured. “I wonder if-” 

The two skidded to a stop next to the other Sans, gasping at the sight that met them. 

There was what seemed to be yet another two Sans’ sitting in the snow; one dressed in red and black and the other in blue and grey. Someone who was probably another Papyrus stood over them with an odd look that mixed concern with contempt. 

Sans became immediately more focused with his Papyrus, who was lying in the snow, his head in the lap of the Papyrus he figured belonged to the Sans by his side. 

“Papyrus!” he cried out, rushing forward. 

The female Papyrus looked up and blinked in confusion as Sans rushed forward and nearly tackled his brother. 

“Hey, Sans,” Papyrus said with a weak grin. 

“What happened to you?” Sans asked, looking down at his leg, which looked like it had been burnt. 

“He was quite valiant, he was protecting me,” the other explained. 

The two boys were all but shoved aside as the female Sans threw herself against her sister. 

“Why didn’t you answer me?!” she demanded. 

“I was keeping all of them from tearing each other apart, how was I supposed to hear your rattling?” she replied in an amused tone. 

“That was you doing all of that rattling out there?” Sans asked. 

“Yes, it’s meant to be a warning as well as a call. What do you do when you’re separated from your brother?” the female Papyrus asked. 

“Usually I just call his cell phone,” Sans replied. 

“What if you don’t have a whatever you just said?” the female Sans said. 

“I hate to break up your little reunion here, but I would say that each of us has some explaining to do.” 

They looked up to find the tall skeleton clad in black and red towering over them with a sour look on his face. 

“Give them a moment to heal,” the female Papyrus said, indicating the brother still partially lying in her lap. She looked at Sans with an expectant smile. “Go on, we’re in a safe place.” 

Both the tell skeleton and the female Sans seemed to give huffs of disapproval; the one went to rejoin his brother and the other stalked off towards the trees. 

Sans frowned slightly at her and looked down at Papyrus. 

“Been a really long time,” Sans murmured, moving to his brother’s injured leg. He couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder at the other Papyrus he had met and saw that he had picked up with own brother and was already carrying him on his shoulder with a grin. That Sans was babbling quickly and waving his arms dramatically as he told his brother what had happened to him. 

“It’s okay, Sans,” Papyrus said, bringing his attention back. “I’ll be all right.” 

He went to stand, but the female Papyrus pulled him back. 

“You are certainly not fine,” she said sternly. “You took a bad fall as well as a bad hit. You need to be healed,” she looked back up at Sans. “Go on before he does something foolish.” 

“Besides your leg, what else is wrong?” Sans asked. 

“Hit the back of my head, honestly the world has been looking a little fuzzy since then,” Papyrus replied. 

Sans took a deep breath. “Great.” 

Healing was more of Papyrus’ ability; it wasn’t that Sans couldn’t do it, it was just that it required a lot more energy than he wanted to admit he had. He took a breath and steeled himself anyway, because if nothing else, he hated seeing his brother hurt. 

Sans curled one hand behind Papyrus’ neck and closed his eyes and tried hard to bring up the proper magic. He felt it flow, slow, but it flowed from his hand and into his brother’s neck. Already Sans felt drained from just that little bit, but he knew there was more to do. 

He moved down to Papyrus’ leg and put both hands over the burned bones, trying to ignore the hiss of pain he heard from the contact. He summoned up the magic again, chancing to open his eyes once to see that swirls of green magic went from his hands into the wound. Slowly the blackness receded and soon the wound was healed. 

“Heh,” Sans laughed. “You know, when they tell you to feel the burn, I don’t think that’s what they meant.” 

Papyrus rolled his eyes and he moved to stand. Sans stayed kneeling on the ground but watched him carefully. 

“I think that did it,” Papyrus said, shaking his leg around. “See what you can do if you try? You let your laziness get the better of you all too often.” 

“I’m just here to make sure my bro gets a leg up in the world,” Sans said with a loopy grin. 

“Sans!”


	5. What's In A Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things calm down for a bit, but there are eight of them with two names between them, so, they have to figure that part out right quick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone's clear; I do not intend on doing any romantic pairings for this fic. The girl versions are not there for the boys to fight over, no font-cest or variations there of - I am not *against* these ideas but I'm not doing it in this story. There's a reason for the girls, for all of them, to be in the same universe. You have to keep reading to find out though ^_^
> 
> Fun thing for everyone at the end, if you'd like to participate!

The snow had stopped falling and between the eight of them they had created a fire to sit around. 

Sans looked around at the others; the hoodie-wearing Papyrus and his Sans were probably the most relaxed of the group. Papyrus had an arm hanging loosely across his brother’s shoulder while the other peered around at the rest with wide, bright eyes full of anticipation and excitement. The girls seemed a little more pensive, though that Papyrus was smiling the same as his own while the other looked a little more wary. The ones in the black clothing looked calm, though Sans half-expected them to look angry; Papyrus said that they seemed to be terribly violent and the cause of most of if not all of the injuries either of them sustained. 

“Now _this_ is the way to start new friendships!” the female Papyrus said happily. “I believe we should start with introductions; I am Papyrus! The greatest puzzle master in the world!” 

They all mostly blinked up at her. 

“I think we have an issue,” the Papyrus with the hoodie said. “And that there are four Papyrus’ here.” 

“Oh! Oh! We can come up with new names!” his brother exclaimed happily. “Well, I always call him Papy, so that should work, right?” 

“I’m cool with that.” 

“I shorten his name to Paps all the time,” the black-clad Sans said, jerking a thumb towards his brother. 

“And I dislike it intensely, but for the sake of ease and lack of wasted time I will put up with it,” the other grumbled. 

“Hmm. I guess you could call me Iris,” the female one said. “It sounds close enough to Papyrus. It reminds me of a cartoon character that Alphys showed me; he used to have the biggest crush on her until Undyne caught his eye.” 

“Do I keep my name as is, then?” Papyrus asked. 

“Looks like it, pal,” SwapPapyrus said. 

“I think it’ll be a little harder sorting us Sans’ out,” Sans said. 

“I feel like calling him SwapSans,” Iris said. “It feels like they are swapped version of you two.” 

“Hmm, I do feel there is a bit of a resemblance,” Papyrus said, glancing between Sans and SwapPapyrus. “Something does seem unsettlingly familiar.” 

“Don’t sweat it too much, bro, for now let’s just ‘swap’ it under the rug,” Sans said. 

Both Papyrus and SwapPapyrus groaned. 

The others laughed, even the brothers in black. 

“In keeping with that mentality, maybe it would be appropriate to call me FellSans, since we come from the Underfell,” Sans said. 

“You don’t call it the Underground?” the female Sans asked. 

“No,” FellPapyrus replied. 

“What about you?” SwapSans asked, looking at the female Sans. 

“Uhm,” a slight blue blush formed on her cheeks. She hated attention. “I guess Comi?” 

“Shortened from your full name; Comic Sans! Brilliant!” Iris squealed. 

“Quiet, sis,” Comi muttered, pulling her hood up. 

“Eh, you gotta admit Comi, names for people as cool as us are in short supply,” Sans said, shooting her a grin. 

“Oh for the love of-” Papyrus muttered. 

“You have to admit, Papyrus, it’s a tall order,” SwapSans said. 

“Sans,” SwapPapyrus said with a warning tone. 

“As amusing as this exchange is, we do have more important matters at hand,” FellPapyrus said tersely. 

“Yeah, like where are we anyway?” FellSans asked. 

“I’m thinking it’s not ours, because I don’t recognize much,” Sans said, glancing around. “The trees are the same and such; it feels like the woods near Snowdin.” 

“We teleported, so I’m assuming it’s not ours either,” Iris said. 

“So did we,” FellSans and SwapSans said in unison. 

“Great,” Comi murmured. 

“We all teleported, we all intended to get back to our Snowdin, and yet we’re all here,” Sans said, beginning to trace random patterns into the snow. 

FellPapyrus looked up and sniffed the air. 

"I'm willing the bet that the town is that way," he said after a moment. 

"How can you tell?" SwapSans asked. 

"We're hunters; we follow our noses," FellSans said with a grin. "The nose knows, you know?" 

All of the Papyrus' groaned. 

“I like you, kid,” Sans said with a grin. 

"How are you feeling?" SwapPapyrus murmured to his brother. 

"I'm okay, still a little tired," he admitted. "But if we need to move soon, I can." 

"Good, you can carry me, then," SwapPapyrus said. 

"Carry yourself, lazybones!" 

Sans snickered. "Kind of strange seeing our roles switched," he murmured. 

"Strange, and disturbing," Papyrus murmured back, eyeing the Underfell brothers. He looked away quickly when FellPapyrus looked up at him. 

"Is everyone all right to get going?" Iris asked. 

"The Magnificent Sans is always prepared!" SwapSans declared, jumping to his feet. 

"You're so obnoxious," FellSans growled as he got to his feet. 

"That's not very nice," SwapSans muttered with a small pout. 

"Really, now, I thought we were going to at least try to get along," Iris said, grabbing her staff. 

They put out the fire and FellPapyrus confirmed their target direction. 

"Hold on," SwapSans said suddenly. "If we're in one of our worlds, we should all be aware of the dangers." 

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked. 

"Well, like, I don't know... The only danger in our world was humans, and that's not really a danger anymore," SwapSans said slowly. 

"If we're in our world, then you're lucky you're with us," FellPapyrus said haughtily. "Since I am Captain of the Royal Guard, everyone should assume that you are all my prisoners. I would be prepared for random attacks by foolish monsters, though." 

Iris shifted her weight uncomfortably and gripped her staff. 

"If we're in our world, we're probably going to get a lot of questions," ComiSans said. "We’re the only twins in our Snowdin.” 

“You two are twins too?!” SwapSans exclaimed gleefully, his eyes sparkling. 

ComiSans sighed and moved towards FellPapyrus, who definitely looked eager to start moving. 

“Let’s take the conversation on the road,” Sans prompted them. “We can’t be sure how far it is.” 

FellSans smelled the air. “Less than a mile; Grillby’s burg is calling to me.” 

“Damn. You had to mention it,” Sans shook his head. 

“I don’t know how you stand to ingest all that grease,” Papyrus sighed. 

SwapPapyrus just chuckled. This was going to be an interesting road trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know they decided what they're calling each other and in the narration I'm doing things like FellPapyrus and SwapPapyrus, but that's because I think it makes it more clear for the reader. If you disagree, let me know - I'm really interested in what people think and suggestions on making this better because I know it's confusing.
> 
> Now for the fun stuff!  
> Okay you all, here's the deal... We have four Sans' and Four Papyrus'....  
> Tell me which two you'd like to see pair off to get to know one another better and a question you'd like answered for each. No more than three pair/question combos per person, just in case. If I get too many to fulfill this round, I'll put the others in later on somewhere.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/soloshikigami


End file.
